New 55g, Sand, Cloudy Water

[TheShocker]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping to get some advice on my dillema:

On thursday I set up my new 55g tank using Sand as the substrate. I washed the sand 5 or 6 times but I guess it wasn't enough because I now have very cloudy water. I researched on the forum before I went the sand route and found this topic: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...28&hl=silt&st=0

I used the plate trick when adding the water to the tank (it helped keep the silt to a minimum). It was almost as bad as the tank from the link above at first so I decided to let it sit for 24 hours to see if it got any better. It did get a little better but it's now been 48 hours and it hasn't gotten any better after the first 24 hours.

So I went and got some pantyhose and put two layers on each of my filter cartridges and I also added some "Crystal Clear" (the stuff that groups tiny particles together so the filter can grab them) following the instructions on the bottle. That was a couple hours ago and I haven't noticed much of a difference. It does seem that the particles are catching on the pantyhose though.

Is there anything else I can do to get my water clear? I have three Corys and a Zebra Danio in the tank and they don't seem to mind the cloudy water but I don't think it can be very comfy for them

Thanks for any advice/tips/comments!

Pics: (took these after the pantyhose and crystal clear)

http/www.hidebehind.com/529D4E8F
http/www.hidebehind.com/A07244EB

 

[clareriley]

I would do some water changes, this is a normal thing to happen, even to non sandy setups it still happens. poor fish being in there, are you doing a fishy cycle then? you know you should have let the tank stand for 10days before adding fish even with a fishy cycle

 

[TheShocker]

10 days? Hm, I read 24 hours. I did test the water for ph, general hardness, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite before they went in and it was all fine as I expected it to be.

Yes, I'm doing a fishy cycle but I have an old filter from my 20g tank hanging inside some pantyhose which should help speed up the process. I'm testing the water daily also. I would have done a fishless cycle but I had a hard time finding pure ammonia.

I'll try doing a water change. Is there a better way other than the plate method to avoid stirring up more sand/silt?

 

[clareriley]

If you cant be bothered holding the plate midway which is hard if you water change with a big bucket or something then no the plate on the bottom is the best but I just use a large jug.. although hang on.. what I sometimes do when I cant find my light plate is when im putting the watere in I use a small jug for the first few lots and put them into the water before tipping then you get virtually no movement on the bottom.

 

[TheShocker]

Okay, I'll give that a try.

I updated my first post with a couple pictures, too.

Thanks

 

[clareriley]

I dont see no pics

 

[TheShocker]

http/www.hidebehind.com/529D4E8F
http/www.hidebehind.com/A07244EB

I was having problems with my site's FTP and sent my host an angry e-mail.

 

[TheShocker]

Alright, just did a 25%ish water change and it looks a bit better. I'll keep the pantyhose on the filter overnight and see how it is. If it's still cloudy I'll do another water change.

 

[clareriley]

Alright, just did a 25%ish water change and it looks a bit better. I'll keep the pantyhose on the filter overnight and see how it is. If it's still cloudy I'll do another water change.

Glad its getting better, the pics look like a normal tank to me when its just been setup. good luck with the fishy cycle and the clearing. it should be crystal clear in a few days

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Hello! I think I may have a solution for you. I have almost the exact same set up as you (a 55 gallon tank) minus the sand substrate. However, I have 3 peacock eels in my tank which required a very fine substrate so I used the smalled granular rocks I could find at the fish store. While cycling and again as soon as I added fish, I had such cloudy water that I could only see about 6 inches into the tank from the front and could hardly see sny fish until they came to the surface.

This trick was told to me by a local fish store which specializes in ONLY fish and tanks. It will work for any tank with a filter that uses the two filter pads that are placed in the filter back to back. (I say this because I do not have experience with any other kind of filter). The first thing I did was purchase a cheap white t-shirt from Wal-Mart. I took it home and boiled the shirt about 3 times to remove the chemicals in the fibers from the manufacturing process. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT since poisons are usually added to keep the clothes safe from pests like mice and moths during storage.

Once the shirt was clean, I used a peice (sleeves worked great for this) between the two filters. It was somewhat unnerving at first because the water would not flow as nicely, but once I realized that the worst symptom was a slightly louder filter, I stuck it out. The t-shirt acted as a third filter, only very fine and removed all the silt and cloudyness from my tank within an hour or two. Right now, my tank is ultra clear, even after I vaccum the substrate out!

Just remember two things: This is a one to two day process and does not need to be a permanent thing. Just use it to help filter out the silt and go back to the origonal setup. Second, CHECK the t-shirt alot within the first day and often after that since it can catch so much silt and garbage quickly that it may clog up and you could be effectively draining your tank onto your floor! Once you notice the t-shirt is very dirty, you can change it or remove it as needed.

This 'trick' replaces a couple of other filter options that cost a TON! I nearly purchased a second filter that cost over 150 dollars, just for the filter pad! From the picture in your post, it appears you bought the exact same aquarium 'kit' that I did so I am hoping that your filter is similar to mine! This method will help remove the finite material that is clouding the water! Hope it helps!

 

[TheShocker]

Glad its getting better, the pics look like a normal tank to me when its just been setup. good luck with the fishy cycle and the clearing. it should be crystal clear in a few days

Thanks, it's looking much better now. Not crystal clear but pretty darn close.

Tommy Gunnz: that's pretty much the same thing I did but I used pantyhose instead of a t-shirt.

Thanks for the help everyone. Can;t wait until it's done cycling so I can get my angelfish!!!